Dreamcast Hard Drive

[quzar]

http://f17.aaa.livedoor.jp/~takotako...#hit0300_clone

Those are the only ones. Both iterations require using specific PC/PCI cards that have similar chips to the real sega lan adapter.

Using one or two of the most similar, it can be built using off the shelf ICs, otherwise you need a CPLD or other programmable chip.

[SA3-Possible???!!]

All I want to know is how much additional RAM could the DC handle. I mean it'd be good to have a game that could push the system to it's LIMITS, however in order to get the most out of the system more RAM would be required to get 7 million polygons per second, which is ABSOLUTE MAX for DC. So please if you could give me a figure of how much extra RAM could be fed through the system for it's games' uses, please do tell. Could you also tell which port would be most suitable for giving Xtra RAM to the DC and also if RAM could be given to the system for more complex games AT ALL! Guys I want TO KNOW!

[quzar]

All I want to know is how much additional RAM could the DC handle. I mean it'd be good to have a game that could push the system to it's LIMITS, however in order to get the most out of the system more RAM would be required to get 7 million polygons per second, which is ABSOLUTE MAX for DC. So please if you could give me a figure of how much extra RAM could be fed through the system for it's games' uses, please do tell. Could you also tell which port would be most suitable for giving Xtra RAM to the DC and also if RAM could be given to the system for more complex games AT ALL! Guys I want TO KNOW!

In theory you could add as much as you want on any port, if you don't want it direct mapped. You could put 64mb direct mapped on the G2 port (modem/bba), up the 16mb main ram to 64mb (within the capabilities of the SH4 and fits in the memory map), the 8mb video ram to 16mb, and the 2mb audio memory to 4mb (although then you wouldn't be able to do the whole 64mb on the G2 port).

The limits on the polygon count do not have to do with the system ram, they have to do with the speed of the cpu and the connecting busses. The best things you could probably do to increase the poly-pushing abilities of the DC would to overclock the SH, then ensure that the ram is the lowest latency possible (many DCs used different brands of ram and the RAS/CAS timings fluctuated, so they were fixed by hardwired register).

There are two reasons nobody answered you. What you are asking for will never be done, and the fact that you have to ask means that you don't have the capability to do it. And, the way you wrote your posts also implies you wouldn't be able to contribute towards the creation of such a project.

[SA3-Possible???!!]

In theory you could add as much as you want on any port, if you don't want it direct mapped. You could put 64mb direct mapped on the G2 port (modem/bba), up the 16mb main ram to 64mb (within the capabilities of the SH4 and fits in the memory map), the 8mb video ram to 16mb, and the 2mb audio memory to 4mb (although then you wouldn't be able to do the whole 64mb on the G2 port).

The limits on the polygon count do not have to do with the system ram, they have to do with the speed of the cpu and the connecting busses. The best things you could probably do to increase the poly-pushing abilities of the DC would to overclock the SH, then ensure that the ram is the lowest latency possible (many DCs used different brands of ram and the RAS/CAS timings fluctuated, so they were fixed by hardwired register).

There are two reasons nobody answered you. What you are asking for will never be done, and the fact that you have to ask means that you don't have the capability to do it. And, the way you wrote your posts also implies you wouldn't be able to contribute towards the creation of such a project.

You didn't specify why this would never be done. I don't have the resources or knowledge to do this, but maybe someone technical would like to take on this challenge. WOW! Can the game accessable RAM really be increased by 2 to 4 times! And I just want one last great dreamcast game and maybe an add-on could make it even better.

[picouser]

The circuit of this SD card adaptor is simple.
http://f17.aaa.livedoor.jp/~takotako...2bm.php#sdcard

[PSP05]

So hows everything coming along with this idea?

Any new progress unveiled lately, or is this just still a thought I have when I can't get to sleep?

[rosetaylor01]

If you're wanting to have it replace the GD-ROM drive, I wish you luck in designing and coding it. Considering no one has successfully reproduced the work of destop for a GC HD interface last I checked, I doubt anyone on these forums will design and build one from scratch to support the DC.


There exists plans to make an ISA and IDE interface, but it is slow and complicated. It also requires using a loader disc to use it. I think there is one loader program and NetBSD that can use it. See the DC IDE-HD interface on Archive.org. Of course, for portabilizing, there isn't much use for this, as you have to keep the GDROM drive anyway.

[spinksy]

Any more news on the SD card reader or Hard drive?

[hyperiris]

Considering no one has successfully reproduced the work of destop for a GC HD interface last I checked, I doubt anyone on these forums will design and build one from scratch to support the DC.

I've already built a gamecube dvd drive emulator.

check this:
http://hyperiris.spaces.live.com/blo...8F8!1176.entry

running video:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTkzNzI1NTI0.html